Lindsay, TX to Ardmore, OK 6/11/09:

Talk about a rough day... We had a long ride out to Ardmore, OK that day.

Starting out with a STIFF headwind, we rode for about 10-15 miles with a huge wind blasting against our faces. We were going about 10-13 mph, when we knew we could be going faster without the wind. But there was really nothing that we could do....

So we fought through it and went as fast as we could. During times like this we could really make use of the double pace lines to conserve our energy. With a group of people in front of us, it was so much easier to bike - they broke a lot of wind for us. Like we learned during training camp, we can save 30% of your energy by drafting. And OH MAN, did it help! We pulled for short periods and rotated through so we could save our energy.

We got to the second to last rest stop...and what did we have awaiting our arrival?? POPSICLES!!! The SAG drivers had gotten a donation from a grocery store and had thrown popsicles into the coolers for an icey cold treat at the rest stop :) What's better than popsicles on a hottttt summer day? Popsicles on a hottttt summer day after biking 60 miles!

So that made things a little bit better....until we got tothe end of the route. Coming into Ardmore, were some KILLER hills. We had about ten half-mile STEEP climbs into the town.

After arriving at the church, we were donated an amazing Lasagna dinner! It was incredibley delicious and the church volunteers were too sweet!

I decided shortly after to go and explore the town. I had a letter I needed to send, so I went to find the post office. Which sadly...was closed :( So I had to find a place that would sell me stamps! I rode all over the small town until finally, I found a convinience store that had stamps! I had failed at two other gas stations, but the third was the charm!

I decided to treat myself to a DELICIOUS McDonald's fruit and berry parfait. AMAZING. You can ask Andrew Hsieh about how amazing they are! Hahaha.

So I got back to the church and started to paint the fenders of the trailer. We found an extra black spray paint can, so decided....to beautify our trailer! And man, those black fenders look NIIIICE!!

And if you've seen my red tires on my bike...I picked them up from the bicycle recycling project at JackAnd Adams, USED. I've ridden a few hundred miles in them...done track stands and skid stops...so the cuts and tears and burns were starting to show. I decided it was time for the ULTRA GATOR SKINS!!!! So I slapped those babies on.

I ended up working on bikes and repairs with Brian and Greg until the weeeeeee hours of the evening. We got Susan's bike road ready again and worked on Lauren Bissey's bike too!

Midnight came around...and we had finished it all up!

It was bed time!